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Chapter Tres
Fire… burning…
"Hermione!"
Choking… all consuming heat…
"God Damnit, Hermione! Wake up!"
She was going to die…die…
"She won't stop thrashing. Somebody help me hold her! HERMIONE!"
God… it hurt…
"Hermione!"
Hermione emerged from her nightmare gasping, shaking and drenched in sweat. Every girl in the dormitory was leaning over her, pale and frightened. Lavender clutched the novel she had given her; a pale green tinted her face. Ginny had Hermione straddled, holding her arms to her sides. They made eye contact and Hermione melted, broken sobs escaped her chest in painful shudders. Ginny gathered the older girl into her arms and tried to comfort her, despite her thundering heart. She had never seen Hermione so out of control. It was alarming to see her friend and mentor so fallen to pieces. Tears began to prick the corners of Ginny's eyes as she whispered comforts into Hermione's hair.
"I'm so sorry, Hermione! I never would have given you the book if I knew it would make you have a nightmare!" Lavender dissolved into tears, clutching the novel as she slumped down next to Hermione.
"Don't be stupid. A romance couldn't possibly make her have a nightmare. She must still just be really stressed," Ginny snapped, tightening her grip around Hermione as she let out a particularly violent sob.
"Everything is okay, Hermione. Please stop crying. It was just a dream," Lavender said, putting her arms around Hermione as well.
"We're here. It's okay. The nightmare is over," Parvarti soothed as she knelt and placed a hand on Hermione's shoulder. Soon a symphony of soft, cooing voices engulfed Hermione as her dorm mates all attempted to calm her down. No one enjoyed seeing their classmate and friend so completely broken.
The bathroom tiles were cold on her bare feet, but Hermione was too tired to care. Her eyes felt swollen and scratchy, she had cried most of the night. Her throat felt sore and her stomach threatened to flip over at the slightest disturbance. But what could she have expected, that's what happens when someone sobs their heart out. She let out a long sigh ass she stepped into the large bath at the center of the tiled room. The warm water began to caress the worries out of her body as soft pink bubbles danced across the surface. A bath at Hogwarts had to be one of Hermione's favorite activities. You couldn't find 37 different types of magical bath bubbles anywhere else.
She stretched her back and waded to the center of the bath and stood. The water came just up to her shoulders and with a smile, Hermione allowed herself to fall back into the bubbles. Sinking to the bottom of the warm darkness, Hermione tried to forget the nightmare that had ripped though her mind. Everyone has a nightmare, that's what the girls had told her. They tried to get her to fall back to sleep, but she couldn't. Instead Hermione had lain in bed through the early morning, staring up at the roof of her canopy bed.
Everyone had nightmares… of course everyone had nightmares. Hermione had had her own fair share of nightmares through her years. But none had ever come close to this one. She couldn't quite put her finger on what had driven her to hysterics. To be honest she couldn't really even remember what her dream had been about. What ever it had been, it caused a heat and panic, a deep rooted fear that sprung from her stomach and took a vice grip on her lungs? It was an extreme feeling, but Hermione remembered it. She had felt the same as she had when she had jumped into the lake. She had felt as though she needed to douse some sort of flame that was threatening to devour her.
She rose to the surface and filled her lungs with sweet scented air. Hermione tried to ignore the fear that was prickling her stomach by zealously scrubbing her hair and body. Could she wash away the panic and fear? Was it possible to scrub the nightmare away from her memory? Hermione climbed from the tub in defeat. No amount of washing was going to get rid of the growing knowledge that something just wasn't quite right. Hermione didn't care how bad mental breakdown's could get, this wasn't normal.
The blue fluffy towel she had brought with her cheered her a bit. It fought against the cold air of the castle and felt cozy. Today was going to be a normal day. She would get dressed into her favorite jeans and spend the day relaxing next to the fire in the common room watching Harry and Ron play chest. It was always amusing to see how wrapped up and energetic they got. Ginny walked in as Hermione was pulling her blouse from her bath bag. A friendly smile was passed and Ginny started preparing for a bath of her own.
Hermione went to pull on her favorite blouse but stopped abruptly. For a second she could have seen something red on her hip. She turned her hip towards the mirror with growing horror. The red she had seen was part of a large mark on her skin and as she craned her neck to get a better view she could make out the shape. It was the perfect imprint of a human hand, blistering an angry red.
"Ginny?" Hermione asked, her voice seemed abnormally quiet.
"What is it?" Ginny asked, looking up from one of the bath's many faucets.
"Are you seeing what I'm seeing?" Hermione asked, nodding her head towards her hip. Ginny cocked her head to the side and stared for a moment. When she met Hermione's gaze, a look of confusion was plastered across her face.
"What are you talking about? What am I supposed to be seeing?" Ginny asked, standing and coming over to inspect Hermione's back.
"Don't you see it? It's huge, right there on my hip," Hermione craned her neck further and pointed.
"I really don't see anything. Well, I mean there's a little sore but that's nothing to worry about. It's practically smaller than a quill tip," Ginny laughed, heading back over to the bath. Wide-eyed, Hermione watched Ginny preparing her bath. She couldn't see it? Hermione snaked a hand back and lightly ran her finger over the mark. She gasped as a stinging pain lit up the entire hand print. It was real, she wasn't imagining it. Then why couldn't Ginny see it?
"Are you okay?" Ginny asked, turning and looking at the sound of the gasp.
"I-I'm fine. I think I'll head down for breakfast," Hermione stammered. She gave Ginny a weak smile and finished putting her blouse on and grabbed her bag. She didn't hear Ginny's goodbye as she headed out the door. Her mind was too fuddled with worries and thoughts.
Draco snaked behind a statue, watching as Crabbe and Pansy walked past. Their pace was brisk and determined. They were looking for him. Malfoy allowed a small sigh when they disappeared at the end of the hallway. It was nice to have witless minions to do his bidding, but at times they were too witless. Pansy stuck to him like glue, a little too obvious with her affections for her own good. Crabbe and Goyle made awful conversation and to be frank, sometimes Malfoy just needed to get away. He walked out from the statue, satisfied with his escape. Where to now? His stomach rumbled at the thought and subconsciously started to head towards the Great Hall.
As Malfoy approached the steps, he was greeted with a delightful view. Hermione Granger, with her foot sunk up to mid-calve on the trick step. She really was starting to lose it; everyone always knew to skip the 17th step on the staircase down from the fourth floor. The opportunity was just too perfect. Same as it had been the other day as he watched her leave the Great Hall. Her little freak out session last Monday, though he would admit it to no one, intrigued him. In the seven years that he had known Granger, she had always been cool and collected… with the exception of when she had clocked him in the nose a few years back. Malfoy frowned at the memory, what a blow that had been to his reputation. Shaking off the memories, Malfoy smirked and swung into action.
"I see you missed that step there, Granger. But I guess it's not your fault, Dumbledor should replace that step to protect one as mentally retarded as yourself," Malfoy glided into the scene. His smirk broadened as he saw Hermione stiffen. Taking a seat on the step next to her, Malfoy almost laughed out loud at the bright, embarrassed blush that stained her cheeks.
"Sod the fuck off, Malfoy. I'm not in the mood," Hermione snapped, tugging at her leg.
Malfoy was about to retort but the words died in his throat. Something on Grangers back had caught his eye. Her blouse had ridden up in her efforts to release her foot, revealing an ugly red hand mark. It looked as though someone had smacked her with a force completely unimaginable. That or someone with fire for hands had touched her. The shock caused all mirth to disappear from his face. What was going on with Granger? Who would hit someone that hard? Who would hit Granger (ignoring the fact that he would love to and would have, but unfortunately he was too much of a gentleman for that)?
"Granger, how the hell did you get that?" Malfoy asked, pointing at the mark.
Hermione stilled. Suddenly with an almighty yank, Hermione freed her foot and fled down the stair case, leaving her bag forgotten. She looked back only once, and Malfoy saw tears.
Yeah I know... I'm a bit friendly with the whole cliff hanger like endings. I can't help it smiles From this point on Malfoy is going to start taking a more active role in Hermione's problem. Hope you all enjoyed!
peanut18
